I have always followed the BOXING day test match since I was
young either on radio, TV or the internet .
The occasion demanded that it be followed I thought . When 90K people gather for an event in a single place, cricket becomes an afterthought
on the first day and takes centrestage as the test match progresses to Day
2. Honestly I thought that BOXING day
related to the sport and when my dad asked me to look at the dictionary, the
connection to Christmas was learnt.
Test matches linked to domestic festivities are nothing new
, the Pongal test match at Chepauk or
the new year test match at Sydney but when you are up early in the morning to
get the first bite of the action, the
feeling is different and with India playing
it adds more spice to the occasion.
The fixtures of India’s current tour of Australia feature
the BOXING day as the first test match unlike earlier when we always started
with the Gabba and moved on getting acclimatised to the conditions down
under. Indian cricketers are never known
to be good travellers and normally we are the receiving end in the first
test unless there is a spark from the
captain in doing something different where the opposition is caught unawares.
Avid watchers like me would say India would lose Melbourne, win
Sydney , lose Perth and draw or win at Adelaide either finishing all square or
losing the series 2-1. But
there is hope in the air for India since Australia and India both are
teams searching for consistency and form,
Australia in their veterans and India in their youth and normally you
expect the youth to up the ante and deliver whereas the old would fade
away. Australia has never been as
brittle as this ever since Kim Hughes took over and the greats like Lillee ,
Thommo and Marsh retired. Their bowling
is lacking the spark to roll the opposition over even in friendly surfaces and
the batting is not up to scratch in swinging conditions. India however shouldn’t forget that Australia is at home and have never been outplayed by India in a full test series though the character of the wickets in Australia has changed tremendously over the years with spinners having a fair say in the results. The fab-3 ( down from 4 after Dada retired ) are on their last weary legs and the bowling is heaving dependent on Zaheer to make the early inroads. The length to be bowled would be shorter than subcontinent and the ability to master the Kookabura would be key. The fitness of the team would be tested with bigger grounds and the ability to throw from the deep ends in MCG and Adelaide.
My predictions with fingers crossed
MCG -> India draw/lose, SCG -> India win , Perth -> India lose, Adelaide -> India win
Pray that I would be proved wrong in the case of MCG and that really sets up and Indian series win. Hope the weather stays fair and rain is only heard of and not felt, Remember the heartbreak of 1985, when rain washed out the last day.
